Re: rifle inscription

Being a latecomer to Mohicanland, I'm still in the process of reading through all the back traffic. Came across your son's question about the inscription on Natty's rifle, and I can answer that question. In the death scene in THE PRAIRIE, Natty asks Middleton to take the rifle back to the person, in the small town near Otsego, whose name is inscribed on the rifle stock. He notes that the young man has seen many a deer brought down with that rifle and would like to have it hanging over his mantel. The young man in question is Oliver Edward Effingham, the grandson of Major Effingham, whose servant Natty had been in youth. Oliver's story was covered in THE PIONEERS, in which he was living with Natty in the forests near Templeton, sort as an adopted son, while Natty tried to care secretly for Major Effingham in his dying days. Oliver eventually, as every hero will, inherited the property, married the girl and established himself as lord of the manor in Templeton.